Laura Hillenbrand

Her next book was Unbroken, the biography of the World War II hero Louis Zamperini, published in 2010. If you haven’t heard of Zamperini, then you’re missing out on quite the story. In his youth, Zamperini (now 95 and an international speaker) was a top runner, with a four-minute mile in his sights and an eighth place finish in the 5k at the 1936 Berlin Olympics under his belt. When the war came around, he enlisted in the Army Air Forces. He survived a crash that stranded three of the eleven aboard the plane on a raft for 47 days at sea. And let’s just say that there’s more to the story, but I’ll let Hillenbrand do the rest of the narration for Zamperini’s truly astounding tale. This is truly a story you don’t want to miss.
Hillenbrand has been living with a debilitating condition known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which caused her to cut her college studies short. She is rarely able to leave her home due to her CFS. When asked by the Washington Post (see the article here) to comment on the irony of writing about such physical feats given her own physical state, Hillenbrand revealed what sets her apart from other authors. Her own physical incapacity gives her the drive to escape intellectually; describing another person’s physical accomplishments is her way of “living vicariously.” So that’s how she became a storyteller of nonfiction like no other before her.

Through My Eyes

Yet, Tim Tebow would have never been such a famous figure in football without the decision first made by his parents. The book starts out with his parents’ decision to give birth to their son instead of following the suggestion of doctors to abort him. It is this beginning that has set the stage for his life.

His parents grew up on a farm; from them he received an education and learned the value of hard work, persistence, and his faith. When Tim wanted to become a quarterback, his father supported his dreams and found a team that would play him in that position. It was through his family’s support and his faith that he achieved his dream of becoming a quarterback in the NFL.

Most of the football in the book takes place during his time with the University of Central Florida Gators and his first year in the NFL with the Denver Broncos. While he wasn’t as famous as he is now during this time in his life, he already had his faith.

Perhaps, that is what makes this book so unique. Tim Tebow isn’t afraid of making faith a part of his life or revealing how it influenced him. The book isn’t preachy at all and doesn’t try to convert anyone. It is a story of inspiration and his influences in life. His faith is as much a part of as his life as football is.

That being said, there are those who won’t particularly care for a story that has tones of Christianity in it. But that is a part of who Tim Tebow is and he is not ashamed of it.

While it is a inspirational story, if you are a critic or not a fan of Christianity, than you probably won’t like this book. Otherwise, it is one you should add to your collection.

The story is about the events surrounding and leading up to the assassination of President Lincoln. It takes the form of  storytelling prose rather than a cold account of the facts. It is not just another history book.

It was a traumatic time for America. The Civil War was in its final battles. The country was still severely divided on both sides. President Lincoln was facing a country still in turmoil despite the ending of the war. But not everyone was particularly happy about the President.

Like every other President that has held the office, President Lincoln had his enemies. John Wilkes Booth hated President Lincoln. While the outcome of the story is well known, this book can still catch people by surprise with some of the details that are present in the text.

However, the book itself is more of a way to excite people about learning more of America’s past than something that should be taken as the absolute truth. Unfortunately, some of the factual details escaped the notice of the writers.

Some of the conversations that President Lincoln had were described as being held in the Oval Office. In fact, the Oval Office didn’t exist until much later. President Lincoln never had an Oval Office. There were a few more inaccurate historical details such as these that should have been verified by fact checkers before publication. It is these little details that hurt the book.

Aside from its problems, it is an exciting account of Lincoln’s assassination. It digs deeper into the character of Booth and some of his reasons why he hated the President so much. Although  Booth does come across more as a psycho killer than a real human.

Bill O’Reilly fans will like adding this book to their collections. Otherwise, pick it up at the library for another interesting take on America’s past.

At first, Miss Texas takes over and, instead of trying to allow them to get used to the island, she wants them to work on all of their pageant stuff.  The girls protest and they start searching for the other half of the group that Miss Texas didn’t realize was missing.  While they are out there, they realize that the jungle is a pretty creepy place.  There are giant snakes and tons of bugs, but at the same time the place is gorgeous.

After about a week or so of Miss Texas ruling, she discovers a group of men living in the volcano on the island.  She can’t tell who they are working for, though.  Well, they know that the girls are there.  They are saying that the pageant is going to be canceled.  And, um, Miss Texas kind of goes crazy on them, literally back flipping on their faces.  She runs away and a guy chases her and shoots her with a blow gun.  After that she goes insane.  She hides in the forest and creates sculptures of Ladybird Hope, the most famous pageant winner ever.  As crazy as she is, she is able to sneak a couple of AK-47s from the men, who she’s figured out are working for the Corporation, this huge company that’s  running the beauty pageant and owns an agglomeration of beauty suppliers.

Meanwhile, Miss New Hampshire, go New Hampshire!, takes over, but instead of working on pageant skills, she has them make huts and get food and water.  They actually end up living very well once they figure out how to do everything.  Then, a bunch of hot male pirates show up on the island and all of the girls end up hitting it off with one of them.  Long story short, one of them emotionally hurts Miss New Hampshire.  And she gets mad, very mad.  Anywho, the pirates end up leaving the island and the girls get “found” by the men in the volcano.

They take them in and let them shower and eat and everything.  Then they tell the girls that the pageant will be tomorrow night.  The girls end up devising a plan to get out of there and blow up the place. The only thing is that Taylor, Miss Texas, is still out on the island somewhere.

I could tell you if the girls get out OK, or I could do what I usually do and make you read the book to see if the girls even live.  Yeah, I think I’ll do the usual.  I wonder what you guys would do if one of these times I actually told you the ending of the book, you would be pretty shocked wouldn’t you, that would be pretty funny.  Well either way, read the book and then tell me what you think. (;

My Knock-down, Drag-out, Drugged-up Battle with My Brain

Med Head is the true story of Cory Friedman, a kid with Tourette’s syndrome and OCD, an alcoholic, and a chain-smoker.  But it didn’t start that way.  Cory was once just a normal little boy who was unsuspecting of the horrors that lay ahead.

When Cory was just the tender age of four, the tics started.  Tics are habits or rituals that someone with Tourette’s syndrome has to do.  Throughout the next few years he went to many doctors trying to figure out how to stop it.  When he was six, they finally found a doctor who could help him.  He put Cory on a drug called Risperdal and it helped him a lot, but it also made him gain a lot of weight.

For a few years the drug helped but the effects started to wear off.  In his early teenage years he tried to stop taking Risperdal, but it was agonizingly hard.   You see, Risperdal is a narcotic, which means you get addicted to it.  If you assumed that it wouldn’t work you were right, he wasn’t able to take himself off of Risperdal.

Only a year or two later Cory found his saviors, alcohol and cigarettes.  Actually the cigarettes didn’t help much; he just got addicted to them when he said yes to a friend. The alcohol, on the other hand, did.  For most of his freshman and sophomore year he was drunk, but he didn’t have tics as bad as he normally would.

In his junior year, Cory was sent to a wilderness camp up in the frozen Rockies.  He climbed up mountains daily for the next month.  Throughout this time period he quit smoking and alcohol.  After a month Cory was sent home.  When he came home he was 60 pounds lighter and didn’t need all of the medicines he needed before, including Risperdal.

About a week after he came home from wilderness camp he was sent to an amazing hospital that specialized in kids who suffered from OCD.  There they helped him overcome his OCD.

When he finally came home and went back to school, the school was going to make him retake his junior year because they thought he hadn’t completed the requirements, but he had.  His mother fought long and hard that day for him and was able to show the school that Cory had completed all the assignments.  And that maybe he didn’t go to gym class very much that 1st semester, but at the wilderness camp he went on 8-hour-long hikes up mountains every day, lost 60 pounds, quit smoking, and overcame his alcoholism.  As for his normal school work, at the hospital he finished all the work that was assigned to him while he was out, took classes everyday there, and started taking a college level computer course.  Eventually, his mom was able to persuade the school the he should continue into his senior year at the end of that year.

During his senior year Cory stopped ticcing.  He did it all on his own, it was all a matter of patience and hope.  Cory graduated that year with flying colors and an AP credit in computers and marketing.

Cory is now the head of a large online marketing company.  Cory is no longer a victim of Tourette’s disease, he is a symbol to all Tourette’s victims that it is possible to overcome Tourette’s.

Henry David Thoreau

There are over twenty volumes of Thoreau’s books, articles, essays, journals, and poetry. However, his most notable piece of work is Walden, his semi-autobiographical book detailing his two years of living in a self-built cabin in the woods owned by Emerson, near Walden Pond (pictured) in Concord, Massachusetts.

Walden is probably unlike any other book out there. Walden was an experiment of simple living. He want to go “back to nature,” believing in the value of solitude and contemplation. (It is a common misconception that Thoreau lived in seclusion as a hermit. In fact, the cabin was only a couple miles from his family home, and one of the chapters of Walden is entitled “Visitors.”) He wanted to determine the relative dimensions of objects in nature. Where does man fit among ants (“Battle of the Ants”) and other creatures?

Thoreau switches style throughout the book, depending on the subject. Sometimes, his style is extremely poetic, such as when he describes a scene of nature. Other times, Walden reads as if it is merely Thoreau’s personal diary, and he is recording the day’s events. He can be critical of society, and one chapter later can be neutral and observational. In the final chapter, he is prophetic and didactic: “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”

Thoreau‘s Walden is not a fluid piece. I recommend taking it outside and reading a few chapters at a time, allowing ample time for his ideas to float around as you observe nature.

“Have you ever looked at the online photos of Britney’s peesh? I probably shouldn’t start my book with that question, but I just can’t get enough of these photos. I find it nearly impossible to turn away from an online snapshot of any celebrity’s peesh. All right, Kath. Focus. This is the story of your life.”

Kathy Griffin’s tenacity is tangible throughout the entire book. It is relentlessly comical, but also contains brutal accounts of her life struggles, including a troubled brother, alcoholism, her well-publicized body image issues, and a nasty divorce. Her entire life, from her childhood in suburban Chicago, through her climb to the top in Hollywood is covered in uncensored and outrageous detail. Kathy can always be counted on her refreshing honesty and unique style of comedy. I’m sure if Kathy were writing this review she would be sure to have me tell you that she is also the star of the multi-Emmy award winning television show, My Life on the D-List, her comedy specials on HBO, and even received a Grammy nomination for her latest comedy CD.
The foreword alone makes the book worth reading, as Kathy explains that the title for the book came from her desire to get her book picked up as a selection for Oprah Winfrey’s book club. Chapter titles include her knack for making fun of the rich and famous; “Brooke Shields, Don’t Read This,” “Reinventing Myself: I’m Just Like Madonna,” “Fanning Flames in Hollywood, And Yes I Mean Dakota,” and finally, to Kathy’s favorite target, “How Paris Hilton Changed My Life.”
Be warned, this book is only for adults and can be, in parts, be interpreted as offensive if not read with a sense of humor. Overall, Official Book Club Selection crosses the boundaries and goes places that far too many books are afraid to go. It is everything you would expect, and with copies selling for as little as $0.01 on Amazon.com (Kathy would describe this as a ‘typical’ indicator of her D-list status), it is accessible to anyone who is in the mood to poke fun at celebrities and look at the humorous side of life.

Henrietta Lacks was a woman back in the 1950s who received the devastating diagnosis of cancer. After collecting her cancer cells, scientists discovered that her cells had a remarkable ability to replicate. It was this power that allowed scientists to unlock many secrets of the cell world and aid in the development of many different types of drugs. Dubbed the “HeLa” cells, her cells are still famous and can be easily found. However, very few scientists realized that it was a living person who donated the cells.

But this power did not come without a cost. Henrietta Lacks died shortly after the diagnosis in the “colored” ward of the hospital. Perhaps, it was her family that suffered the most from her fame. The code of ethics was breached by both scientists and journalists who showed a blatant disregard for the fact that Henrietta was once among the living. Henrietta’s family has not gained any compensation for the continued use of Henrietta’s cells.

As Rebecca Skloot digs more into this story, she explores the more important question of scientist ethics. In the book, she gathers the opinions of experts in the scientific field and presents the hard questions of whether or not science should be accountable to  individuals. She also notes the difficulties the family has since gone through as a result of all the fame.

It is a very interesting look into the past and a very relevant issue for today’s society. As science continues to outpace the laws that surround it, the questions of ethics is still very much at the forefront. While science strives to keep its impartial distance, this book is a reminder that at the core, there are still human beings who have lives and families that are affected by the decision of the scientists.

It can be a hard book to read. Not because of how it is written but because of the subject matter. It certainly provides some thought provoking material. It is an interesting book to pick up and read, to discover the science of the past and the questionable path it took to make future findings.

The Glass Castle

Before you pick up this book, you should know that it contains incidents that could be considered abusive. There may be some content that is disturbing since much of the incidents involve children. This is not a book that contains light reading.

As Jeannette recalls the stories of her childhood, it is the memories of her parents that are the strongest. Her father is showcased as a brilliant but frustrated genius. When he is good, he shows her and her siblings a world of magic. When his weaknesses overcome him, he is bad, neglectful, and irresponsible. The good moments spent with him were almost a dreamy type of storyline. However, Jeannette seems to whitewash his bad moments of his drinking habit and other personality flaws. To be fair, the stories are told from a child’s point of view and most children tend to idealize their parents despite the flaws.

Her mother is a very selfish creature who often gets lost in the world of her art. To her, taking care of children is a burden rather than a responsibility. As a result, the children are often left to fend for themselves and find their own food. It can make you wonder why she had children in the first place.

As a result of her parent’s disinterest in settling down and confronting their own problems, Jeannette and her siblings traveled from place to place in sort of a nomadic lifestyle. They finally settled down for a time in a place that her father never wanted to return to, his hometown. It is from there that Jeannette finds her escape to New York. But her parents aren’t content at being left behind and follow her. For a time, she has to deal with their insertion into her life. The ending is a little disappointing because it leaves the reader with some questions that remain unanswered.

It is a story of her life as she remembered it and the obstacles that she had to overcome to get to where she is now. However, the book does not portray anger at these childhood stories. Instead, they are more memories whitewashed by time and reflecting the more hopeful characteristics of her life.

If You Ask Me: (And Of Course You Won’t)

If you are any fan of hers, you will love this book. It contains all the humor, sarcasm, and wit of her personality. You can tell as she gives her views on not just her career but her lifelong love of animals, her thoughts about love itself, growing old, friendship, and her fans.

The book also contains beautiful photography that captures key moments in her life. The photographs fit in well with the stories she tells. Some of them are in black and white.

It is broken up into a series of stories rather than a definite timeline. One of the subjects she spends the most time on is her love of animals. But she also reveals a few things about her life that aren’t well-known. Such as the fact that she had a crush on Robert Redford or that she does color her hair. Another interesting fact is that she will not go through the rigor of  Dancing With The Stars.

Sometimes, it is hard to think of celebrities as real people. Through her story-telling, Betty White shows that the celebrities she knew did have a human side to them and that they were subject to some of the same fears as their fans.

This is Betty White’s second book on her life and it does lack some of the depth as the first one. But it will still leave you laughing in places. It is good for a quick read, the book itself isn’t very long. But it is pure Betty White and is very fun to read.